In your FACE! I TOLD you I could text and drive!!! :-p

Ok, I admit: I’m what you would call your stereotypical American texting junkie. With that being said, I was nothing less that elated when I came across this article called Study: Cell Phone Bans don’t stop car crashes posted by MSNBC. The article basically talked about a study done by the Highway Loss Data institute to find out what time of impact these safe yet highly inconvenient cell phone laws are really having! Being a native Marylander and a textually active driver, I am directly impacted by the cell phone laws that prohibit texting while operating a motor vehicle. The research concluded that banning cell phone usage while driving has not lowered the amount of car accidents that occur. Researchers compared insurance claims before and after cell phone laws were implemented into major states such as Cali, New York and Washington D.C. and found that not only has it failed to lower the amount of accidents within the state, but it hasn’t even shown a pattern shift from states without any cell phone laws at all.
If banning cell phone usage doesn’t necessarily lower the amount of car accidents that occur, it kind of leads one to wonder why states with these laws push the issue so hard.. Increasingly more and more states are adopting the idea of banning cell phone usage while driving in efforts to make the roads safer. However, if cell phones clearly are not the root of the problem, why haven’t we abandoned this notion yet? One theory (that I’m not necessarily saying I agree with……necessarily) might argue the ideology of consumerism as discussed in Media/ Society. This concept basically suggests (with much pretty words of course) that capitalistic Americans are a bunch of gullible guinea pigs and if you can get them to think one thing, you can get them to buy anything! If media advertisers can convince someone that they are not safe in their home regardless of the neighborhood, then they can in turn convince people that overpriced, rarely if ever used home security systems are absolutely necessary. Similarly, if America can be convinced that hands-on cell phone driving is detrimental to the well being of them and other drivers around them, it is a financial opportunity for Bluetooth, hands-free headset companies and even state police writing tickets to make a profit.
Now, although the study showed that the numbers (on a large scale) have not decreased the amount of times people run into each other on the road, it would be foolish of me to argue that there has never been an instance where a terrible driver who regularly multitask while driving and simultaneously pollutes the safe streets of America with their carelessness has inadvertently avoided a potential accident by being forced to leave his/her blackberry in their pocket. It would also be foolish of me to argue that safe and experienced drivers (such as myself) are not fully capable of responding to a text message while still being alert and aware of their surroundings. Though certain things are obviously safe precautions, media do have their ways of emphasizing certain factors in order to develop mindsets in people that will eventually lead to a profit. Perhaps the best solution and definitely the best solution I can offer at the time would be to of course obey the laws of the road-but beyond that, take the time to evaluate everything for yourself and not always accept the first explanation presented. Thoughts? Comments? Concerns? I’m listening!